Rassie Erasmus says Springbok playmaker Handré Pollard’s top-notch showing on Saturday at Loftus provided a clear answer on his role for the world champions.
Erasmus praised Pollard’s Man of the Match performance in the Boks’ 42-28 win over Scotland in Pretoria, with the veteran flyhalf converting five of South Africa’s six tries and shifting to inside centre.
It was Pollard’s first outing of the 2026 Bok campaign, and came on the back of a difficult end to his season with the Vodacom Bulls.
The two-time World Cup winner struggled off the kicking tee in the URC semi-final win over the Glasgow Warriors, before an underwhelming display in the final defeat to Leinster.
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“It’s difficult to always appreciate what the players do for their province or franchise. Because what the franchise expects from them is different from what is expected from us, within our system and how we do things,” Erasmus said.
“I’m not talking about off the field; I’m talking about the kicking and attacking system, and our defensive system, it’s very different.”
Erasmus explained that Pollard’s move to 12 came after left wing Ethan Hooker was withdrawn with a HIA, and rookie Quan Horn brought on at flyhalf.
“Handré, he was our back-up 12 in the game and in the end he was able to go to 12 after we took off Ethan,” the Bok coach said.
“But we also wanted to see what Quan Horn could do.”
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Erasmus also defended the 32-year-old Pollard’s quality, insisting his struggles at club level bore no reflection on his ability at Test level.
“Handré was a Man of the Match [on Saturday] and as we’ve always said, when did he suddenly become a weak player? I’m not suggesting the Bulls’ system isn’t good, but there are different expectations of a player and different styles.
“We feel Handré fits pretty well in our style and I’m very happy he did so well.”
Erasmus added that Pollard’s positional switch was no surprise within the Bok camp: “We’ve been training with Handré at 12 for the last four weeks, so we got our answer there as well.”
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
The post Rassie: I’m happy with Handré appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Rassie Erasmus says Springbok playmaker Handré Pollard’s top-notch showing on Saturday at Loftus provided a clear answer on his role for the world champions.
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